What kind of steel?

[clovishound]

The sharpening thread has gotten me to thinking. I know, dangerous.

Anyway, what kind of steel do you prefer for your knives? Try and be specific as possible. I am somewhat familiar with the steels used in plane irons and woodworking chisels. I have no idea what different types there are for knife blades, other than the generic high carbon steel, and stainless.

I remember buying a pocket knife when I was a teenager. I decided on an Uncle Henry because they had HCS blades at the time. I had been told they held a better edge than SS. I carried it for years. No idea what happened to it, but I felt like it was a good blade.

Guess I liked Henrys even back then.

[PT7]

I'll chime in since I'm the one that put the sharpening thread out there!

I cannot give you my preference yet for knife steel....I'm still learning, don't have enough experience to have developed a preference. I do know that my Victorinox Swiss Army knife multi-tool has traveled with me for over 33 years, and the larger blade is getting dull (finally), but the smaller blade is still quite sharp. It's stainless, so I'd at least say this was good, long-lasting material.

There is a web site that I've been reading about knife steel. Here is the main page with an "Essential Guide to Knife Steel."
http://bestpocketknifetoday.com/discove ... ife-steel/

As an extension to this guide, they linked to this "Knife Steel Composition Chart."
http://bestpocketknifetoday.com/knife-s ... ion-chart/

I've found these helpful in general learning. Also whenever I read specs of knives I'm interested in, I can check out what these guides state about that specific steel.

Cool story on your "Uncle Henry."

The sharpening thread has gotten me to thinking. I know, dangerous.

Anyway, what kind of steel do you prefer for your knives? Try and be specific as possible. I am somewhat familiar with the steels used in plane irons and woodworking chisels. I have no idea what different types there are for knife blades, other than the generic high carbon steel, and stainless.

I remember buying a pocket knife when I was a teenager. I decided on an Uncle Henry because they had HCS blades at the time. I had been told they held a better edge than SS. I carried it for years. No idea what happened to it, but I felt like it was a good blade.

Guess I liked Henrys even back then.

[clovishound]

Interesting reads. Thanks for posting.

I see a few familiar steels there. However, most are stainless, which is almost never used in woodworking tools.

[RanchRoper]

Very interesting.

[Steve51]

That is a tough question. A lot depends on how you carry and use your knife. I live in the humid midwest. By noon on a typical summer day, my shirt and jeans are soaking wet from sweat. I need a pocket knife that resists rust. I also want a knife that will hold it edge well - one that I would touch up the blades every 6 wks to 2 months. I also want one I can easily put a good edge on with my Lansky sharpening kit.
For the time being, my favored pocket knives are the Buck Cadet #303 or the Buck Stockman #301. Buck uses 420HC steel that they heat treat.
These blades resist rust well, sharpen fairly easily, and hold an edge fairly well. Some of the steel's that hold an edge really well are very hard for the common man to sharpen right.

Check out the bottom of the page on this link for added info about blade steel.
http://www.buckknives.com/about-knives/ ... ght-knife/

[PT7]

Appreciate the Buck Knives info link, Steve51.
I glanced through it, and looks like a lot of helpful stuff there. I'm quite interested in learning about blade shapes and blade steel....a lot of new stuff there for me. I'll enjoy the reading this coming week.

[daytime dave]

There is a lot to learn about knives. With the way things are today, it's hard to just look them over in a store and get a feel for them in person. A Gander Mountian, Cabella's or Bass Pro would be a good place to look a lot of them over. They have large displays and usually don't mind showing you everything you want to see. Go on a weekday during normal work hours when it's slow for the best showing by the sales staff.

[JEBar]

I don't know the name for it but, my preference would be for whatever steel Buck uses in their American made 110 Folding Hunter

[PT7]

This is what is so interesting, and challenging, about blade steel.
At two knife shops, I searched on the Buck 110 Folding Hunter. There is more than one model, and this quick search found two distinctly different blade steels listed. One is stainless steel "420HC" (Buck 110 Folding Hunter). The other is also stainless steel "CPM-S30V" (Buck 110 Folding Hunter Knife C-Tek). Not sure the difference with the second model's term "C-Tek."

OK. Per the Buck blade material list, which Steve61 linked us to, here are the steel descripts:

420HC Steel
This is Buck's standard blade material because it approaches the wear resistance of high carbon alloys while delivering the corrosion resistance of chromium stainless steels. Add our exclusive heat-treat process and you have a very user-friendly combination of superior corrosion resistance with excellent strength for wear resistance and durability. You also have a blade that is easy to resharpen. For best performance we harden to a Rockwell hardness of Rc 58.

S30V Steel
We consider this the absolute best blade steel available, and it is made in America. S30V contains carbon as well as high amounts of Chromium, Molybdenum and Vanadium. This steel combines fantastic edge retention and high ductility combined with corrosion resistance. Double-tempered - it can be hardened to a Rockwell hardness of Rc 59.5-61. However, it is difficult to resharpen yourself, but we do offer sharpening services for a nominal fee.

So those are the "learning searches" I've been doing. I don't know if there is a better way, but it entails quite a bit of digging and reading. I like to do this stuff. If there is a better method, maybe some of the more knowledgeable "knife nuts" can advise.

I don't know the name for it but, my preference would be for whatever steel Buck uses in their American made 110 Folding Hunter

[JEBar]

the blades in Bucks I have must be made from their 420HC Steel .... the S30V Steel sounds interesting but the "it is difficult to resharpen yourself, but we do offer sharpening services for a nominal fee. " would prevent me from wanting it ... Buck introduced its 110 Folding Hunter back in 1964 .... I bought my first one in 1965 as a high school graduation gift for myself .... in another thread I posted its history and the others purchased since .... bottom line, my 40+ years of carrying them has proven to me that everything they say above about 420HC steel they use is true .... add to that Henry level service after the sale and I plan to continue to do so